Eddie Murphy Honored With AFI Lifetime Achievement Award

Eddie Murphy was honored by his peers with an American Film Institute Lifetime Achievement Award over the weekend. Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Mike Myers, Spike Lee, Arsenio Hall, Keenan Thompson, Keegan-Michael Key, David Alan Grier and more headed to the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles to pay homage to the 65-year-old star, who received the 51st award.

“There is no us without you,” Rock said.

Murphy received a standing ovation as he weaved through the audience to accept the award. In his acceptance speech, he mentioned that he’d welcomed his first grandson and his third granddaughter this month. His latest grandchild is from his son, Eric, who married Martin Lawrence’s daughter, Jasmine, last year.

“It just feels like it’s raining blessings on me this month,” Murphy said. “It’s a lot of stuff, and to get this award and still look like myself, because sometimes they’ll let you wait till you’re real old to get this award.”

Murphy is the fourth Black actor to receive the AFI award. Sidney Poitier won in 1992, Morgan Freeman in 2011 and Denzel Washington in 2019. Other awardees include Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Meryl Streep, George Lucas, Al Pacino, Steve Martin, George Clooney and Nicole Kidman, among many others.

Several previous AFI awardees, including directors Mel Brooks and Francis Ford Coppola, received the award in their 80s. The oldest honoree, silent film star Lillian Gish, received the award at 92.

“If you made me wait until I was 92, I would’ve come out here and said, ‘F-ck everybody. F-ck everybody!’ Then I would have s— on the floor,” Murphy said in his speech. He added, “I was looking out and seeing all my family, all my kids, my beautiful wife, seeing all the different people that I worked with. This is a special moment. And I want to thank [Netflix co-CEO] Ted Sarandos for putting this whole thing together. I wish y’all can feel what I’m feeling, see what I’m seeing.”

The show will be broadcast on Netflix on May 31. The Murphy documentary, Being Eddie, was released on the streamer in November.

Roosevelt, N.Y. native Murphy broke through on Saturday Night Live in 1980, becoming a huge star with the release of his third film, Beverly Hills Cop, in 1984. Over the last four decades, Murphy became one of the industry’s biggest stars, bridging the gap between Old and New Hollywood with hits including Coming to America, Life, Shrek and The Nutty Professor.

Although Murphy has not been the most outspoken actor when it comes to racial injustice, he quietly hired Black actors for his films and supported careers early, including Chappelle and Oscar-winner Da’ Vine Joy Randolph, who was first seen by many in Murphy’s 2019 film, Dolemite Is My Name. In 1988, he called out the Oscars onstage for its lack of Black representation.

After almost five decades, Murphy remains one of the industry’s most revered stars, with tributes coming from nearly every active Black comedian and more during the event.

“A couple weeks ago, on a whim, I reached out to Eddie and asked if I could come by and visit him… ,” Dave Chappelle told the audience. “And me and Eddie, for the first time, talked about Charlie [Murphy] since he passed. In the midst of conversation, Eddie was doing this, ‘Man, you should do a Chappelle’s Show movie or something like that.’ And I said, ‘Man, that would be tough without your brother.’ So Eddie, if I do it man, do Charlie’s part. And let’s f—- go.” 

But it was Stevie Wonder, a surprise guest who was skewered by Murphy in his SNL days, who provided his unique perspective on Murphy’s enduring appeal.

“It’s not easy to make people smile, trying to get them to look on the brighter side, but Eddie has a way of getting in our head and hearts to create a belly laugh that eases the pain, builds the bridge and diffuses a situation which makes a real difference,” Wonder said. “That is power, that is courage, and that is the funny man, my friend.” 

The Netflix special airs on May 31, the first AFI ceremony to be streamed.

See all the awards’ happenings below.